Another Side of the World….
Once upon a time in a far-off land there lived an old blind man. Some of his neighbours said that he was at least 90 years old but there was no one around who could verify his date of birth. He was in fact 93 years of age and had lived through all types of hardship, both personal and national, throughout his life. However he did not have one ounce of bitterness in the smallest bone in his body. In fact, he loved life and looked forward to even better times to come.
It was during the great fire seventy years ago that he had lost his sight but he could still see clearly in his mind’s eye the beauty of the landscape that he had enjoyed from boyhood.
He merely had to relax in the bright sunshine and he could ‘see’ some of the most beautiful sights that those with two good eyes were blind to. When one of the village children brought him his food they would usually bring him also one of the bright coloured flowers from the riverbank. He could ‘see’ the bright yellow of the flower and the red streaks that traced their way through the petals. He could ‘see’ the lightly coloured green stalk and the one leaf that each stalk held. Ah but the scent. Now that was real. The all-powerful aroma that brought back memories of his beloved wife caused the salty tears to form in his unseeing eyes and to roll down his cheeks into the corner of his mouth.
The same fire that cost him his sight had also cost him his beloved. When the flames raced through the long grasses towards them they had tried to outrun them. She had tripped and fallen. When he heard her cry he had not hesitated, he had turned and run back into the danger that was obvious but without a second thought he would willingly have given his life to save hers. It was not to be. He had picked her up and with his clothing and hair alight, he had run carrying her. He ran like a man possessed until he reached the riverbank.
He could barely see but without hesitation he jumped from the bank into the dangerous river knowing that there were things there that were just as dangerous as the fire. He had swum out into the middle of the river holding dearly to his beloved. He could not see anything now but it did not worry him. All his thoughts were on his beloved and the fact that he could feel not a trace of a pulse. He refused to accept that she was dead and held tightly to her whilst threading water.
It was then that he heard the crack, crack cracking of rifle fire from the riverbank. He also heard the laughter of the whitemens’ voices shouting and cheering. He heard the splash, splash splashing as bullets hit the water around him. But he still clung to his beloved. He now knew that she was dead but also knew that she deserved a proper ritual burial. For that reason he would not release her body.
As he took the deepest breath that he had ever taken, he prayed to his spirit guide for protection. He then dived under the water until he reached the riverbed some fifteen feet deep. He held firmly onto his beloved with one arm and to a large rock with the other for what seemed like ten minutes. It was probably not that long but if he could only hold on for another minute or two maybe the whitemen would leave and he could reach the riverbank.
Still clinging to his beloved, he silently swam to the bright sky, which he could still see through his closed burned eyes. He put his head above the water and listened for any human sound. There was total silence.
He swam to the shore and lay on the water’s edge with his beloved beside him. Within minutes he heard a noise coming towards him from the nearby reeds. A voice spoke to him in his native tongue and he realised that he was now safe. He told the other about his blindness and the other helped him to carry his beloved into the nearby bushes.
Suddenly, the old man awoke. With the warm sunshine on his face he had fallen asleep and dreamt of the past. He was happy that he felt no bitterness within himself for something that had not only changed his life all those years ago but which had also changed his land for all time.
The year was 1930 in the ‘outback’ of Australia where the white settlers were paying retribution on the Native Australians for stealing some chickens to feed their families.
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